GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan — It is difficult to discourage and impossible to manage Justin Amash because he, unusual among politicians, does not want much and wants nothing inordinately. He would like to win a sixth term as congressman from this culturally distinctive slice of the Midwest. He do…

Dear Dave: Why do I need a will if I’m still young and haven’t acquired a lot of wealth? — Laura

WASHINGTON — A concern for human rights and democracy has often been seen as an add-on to our country’s foreign policy, an attractive veneer over the usual realpolitik. But President Donald Trump is demonstrating that a supposedly “America First” policy focused entirely on trade and divorced…

After the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, investigators discovered that the lone man assigned to guard the president, John Parker, had abandoned his post to watch the play from an adjacent box at Ford’s Theater. Worse, at intermission, Parker adjourned to a nearby saloon to have drinks wit…

Dear Dave: When it comes to buying life insurance, should the coverage amount be based solely on current earnings? I have good reason to believe my income is going to increase significantly soon. — Wesley

Politicians and pundits are promoting familiar explanations, excuses and demands following the tragic mass murders in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. From more gun laws, to blaming President Trump, conservative talk radio and Fox News, we've heard it all before.

WASHINGTON — Regimes, however intellectually disreputable, rarely are unable to attract intellectuals eager to rationalize the regimes' behavior. America's current administration has "national conservatives." They advocate unprecedented expansion of government in order to purge America of ex…

WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the Republican Party may not have pulled the triggers, but they still bear some responsibility for the weekend’s atrocities. The only way to keep military-style weapons of war out of the clutches of would-be mass killers is to take away…

My children don’t remember 9/11. My youngest hadn’t been born; her siblings were 3 years old and 17 months old. They know what that date signifies, have seen the footage and visited the site, but they don’t know what it means. They cannot fathom the devastating cultural dislocation that occu…

Former South Carolina governor and U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley has urged President Donald Trump and Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., to stop exchanging insults over conditions in Baltimore.

The Democratic debates illustrate the limitations of the modern format: Two 10-candidate matchups over two nights could not accommodate all of the aspirants. Confrontation makes for better TV than dialogue and, thus, the media’s pre-debate hype reminds us of World Wrestling Entertainment. Th…

Dear Dave: My husband and I have been married five years, and we’ve decided we want to have children. We’ve both been working full time since our wedding, and we were wondering if we should adjust our emergency fund and retirement investing to accommodate all the upcoming life changes that g…

Calling someone "racist" has become the default position for liberal politicians and certain members of the media who wish to deflect attention from real problems.

Winnow: verb. To expose (grain or other substances) to the wind or to a current of air so that the lighter particles (as chaff or other refuse matter) are separated or blown away.

It was the Detroit Donnybrook. Tuesday’s Democratic debate was choppy but passionate, opening up wide philosophical divisions within the party’s presidential field and providing sound bites critical of progressive ideas and candidates that Republicans are certain to use in 2020.